| Full name | Celeste Arantes do Nascimento |
|---|---|
| Known as | Dona Celeste |
| Born | 20 November 1922, Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil |
| Died | 21 June 2024, Santos, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Age at death | 101 |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Parents | Maria Neves and Jorge Arantes |
| Spouse | João Ramos do Nascimento (Dondinho), m. until his death in 1996 |
| Children | Edson (Pelé), Jair (Zoca), Maria Lúcia |
| Known for | Mother of Pelé |
Celeste Arantes do Nascimento, widely known in Brazil as Dona Celeste, was born on 20 November 1922 in Três Corações, a small city in the interior of Minas Gerais. She lived for 101 years, long enough to outlive her world-famous son Pelé by nearly eighteen months. To most people outside Brazil she was simply the mother of the King of Football, but within her country she was remembered as a quietly steady presence behind one of the most celebrated families in Brazilian sporting history.
Her Origins in Três Corações
Celeste was the daughter of Maria Neves and Jorge Arantes, and she grew up in the same small Minas Gerais city where her son Pelé would later be born. Reports indicate she had multiple siblings and that part of her upbringing was shaped by an older sister. Her early life was rooted firmly in the interior of Brazil, far removed from the international attention that would one day surround her family.
Três Corações was a modest town, and her childhood there was typical of working-class Brazil in the early twentieth century. There was nothing in her background that pointed toward global fame — that would come only through her children.
Marriage to Dondinho and Life as a Footballer’s Wife
Celeste married João Ramos do Nascimento, known as Dondinho, while he was playing for Atlético Clube Três Corações. She was in her mid-teens at the time of their marriage. Dondinho was a professional footballer, and his career dictated where the family lived and how they organised their lives. The couple eventually settled in Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, the city that would become closely tied to Pelé’s own career with Santos FC.
Celeste and Dondinho remained married until his death in 1996. Their life together was domestic and family-centred, built around raising their three children through the demands that came with following a footballer’s career across Brazil.
The Family: Husband and Children
Celeste and Dondinho had three children. The eldest was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, born in 1940 — the boy the world would come to know as Pelé. Their second child was Jair Arantes do Nascimento, known as Zoca. Their youngest was Maria Lúcia do Nascimento, who in later years took on the role of Celeste’s primary carer and with whom Celeste lived in Santos in the final chapter of her life.
Brazilian coverage consistently described Celeste as a devoted and discreet mother. She reportedly had reservations early on about Pelé pursuing a career in football — an attitude that placed emphasis on steady work and personal values over the uncertain life of a professional athlete. Whether that reluctance shifted as his career took off is less documented than the simple fact that she remained a constant and grounding figure in his life.
In Brazil, the term rainha-mãe — queen mother — appeared in profiles written about her, reflecting how the country came to regard her role within the family that produced its most famous footballer.
Reaching 100: Her Centenary and Pelé’s Last Public Tribute
Celeste turned 100 years old on 20 November 2022, a milestone that drew significant attention in Brazil. The occasion fell during the FIFA World Cup period, and Pelé publicly marked the day. Brazilian media ran extensive profiles about her life, emphasising her influence on Pelé’s character and her importance to the family. She was described at the time as lucid but physically frail, and she did not often appear in public at that stage of her life.
Pelé died just over five weeks later, on 29 December 2022, meaning his acknowledgement of her centenary became one of his last widely reported gestures. Celeste had lived long enough to see her son become one of the most recognised people on the planet — and then to outlive him.
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Final Years and Death
In her later years, Celeste lived with her daughter Maria Lúcia in Santos, who was responsible for her day-to-day care. She had spent much of her adult life in that coastal city, and it was there she died on 21 June 2024, aged 101, after approximately a week in hospital. Her death was attributed to causes associated with advanced age.
Her wake was held at the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica in Santos, a site known as the world’s largest vertical cemetery. She was mourned in Brazil not only as Pelé’s mother but as a woman who had lived across an entire century of Brazilian history — from a small town in Minas Gerais to the coastal city her son made famous.
